Alexander Pigalev was born into the
family of employees in 1952 in Volgograd (former Stalingrad). In 1969 he entered
Gorky State University. His graduate thesis was dedicated to the philosophical
problems of natural sciences. On graduating from the university in 1974 he
filled the position of the lecturer of the department of philosophy at Gorky
State University. In 1976 he began his post-graduate course in the field of
philosophy at Moscow State University. The master's degree was conferred on him
on the basis of the defense of the thesis "The Ideological Foundations of the
Theoretical Knowledge in Natural Sciences" at Moscow State University. In 1979
Alexander Pigalev filled the position of the lecturer of the department of
philosophy at Volgograd State Polytechnic Institute. Since 1983 Alexander
Pigalev is affiliated with Volgograd State University, where at first he filled
the position of assistant professor. In 1993 the doctor's degree was conferred
on him on the basis of the defense of the thesis "The Nihilism and the Problem
of Crisis of Culture in Western Philosophy". The defense of the thesis took
place at the Institute of Philosophy in Moscow. Since 1993 Alexander Pigalev
fills the positions of the full professor and the head of the department of
philosophy of culture and history of philosophy. He delivers general courses of
lectures on the philosophy of culture and the history of philosophy. He is also
lecturing on some special problems of philosophy of culture and the history of
philosophy (being and thinking in German classical philosophy, the problem of
metaphysics in the philosophy of M.Heidegger, language and culture, the
philosophy of dialogue, Russian religious philosophy of the "Silver Age").
Alexander Pigalev is the scientific supervisor of post-graduate students
(master's degree). Since 2003 he is also the scientific supervisor of doctoral
candidates. The total number of Professor Pigalev's articles and books is above
130. His works were published in Germany, Great Britain, USA and some other
countries. Among Alexander Pigalev's works one can select the books "The
Philosophical Nihilism and the Crisis of Culture" (Saratov: The Saratov State
University Press, 1991), "Culture as Totality: (Methodological aspects)"
(Volgograd: The Volgograd State University Press, 2001), "The Spectral Reality
of Culture: (The Fetishism and the Apparency of an Invisibility)" (Volgograd:
The Volgograd State University Press, 2003). Professor Pigalev is also known as
the authoritative translator of the philosophical texts from English, French and
German into Russian. Among his translations one can name the books:
Rosenstock-Huessy E. "God Makes Us Speak" (Moscow: Canon+, 1998);
Rosenstock-Huessy E. "The Speech of Humankind: Selected Writings" (Moscow; St.
Petersburg: The University Book, 2000). Alexander Pigalev's textbook "The
Philosophy of Culture" (Volgograd: The Volgograd State University Press, 1995)
has run into already six editions and still enjoys wide popularity.